Henry t



(No Model.)

H. T. RICHMOND. COMBINED HOOK AND BUCKLE.

No. 541,884. PatentedJuly 2, 1895.

NITEDA STATES LATENT OFFICE- HENRYT. RICHMOND, OF MALVERN, IOYVA, ASSIGNOR OF THREE-FOURTHS TO WILLIAM M. EVANS, T. D. GIBSON, AND J. P. MUN GER, OF SAME PLACE.

COMBINED HOOK AND BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 541,884, dated July 2, 1895. Application filed October 6, 1894. Serial No. 525,152 (No model.)

E0 M3 whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY T. RICHMOND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mal- Vern, in the county of Mills and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Hooks and Buckles; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has relation to a combined buckle and snap hook adapted to be used in connecting various parts of a harness together, and adapted more especially for use as a tracecarrier, and among the objects sought to be attained is to provide a device of the character described in which the buckle portion is constructed in such manner that the end or point of the tongue may lie flush with the buckle frame or loop, and thus not be liable to become caught or entangled in a net, lines, tail or mane of the animal or any part of the harness.

A further object of myinvention is to pro vide a device of thecharacter described in which the snap-hook portion is adapted to firmly secure the article hooked thereto without liability of allowing it to become unhooked.

WVith theabove and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction of the device as hereinafter fully described,'illustrated in the drawings, and pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of my device showing the ends of harness straps buckled to the buckle portion and hooked to the snap-hook portion of the device. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the device detached, showing in full lines the buckle tongue in its closed position and the hook of the snap also in its closed or hooked position, and showing in dotted lines the said tongue and hook in their open or unlocked positions. Fig. 3 is a view of the hook portion detached.

In carrying out my invention I provide a frame portion 1 which at one end is constructed to form a loop 2 in the shape of the ordinary buckle loop and at the opposite end being constructed to form parallel portions or cars 3, separated by a narrow opening or space 4, said ears 8 being somewhat of a cam or oval shape as seen, and eccentrically through which is passed a transverse stud or pin 5 upon which the book 6 is pivoted. The hook 6 is provided with the shank portion 7 through which the pin 5 passes, and the curved hook portion 8, and also the projecting point or lip 9. The hook 8 is constructed so as to provide a narrow space 10 between it and the face or edge 11 of the shank for the passageof the loop or hook of the strap or other device to be hooked to the snap-hook, and the point of which hook 8 when in the position represented in Figs. 1 and 2 in full lines, is adapted to lie between the ears 3 so that the strap hooked thereover cannot become unhooked until the hook is turned by hand into the position represented by dotted lines in Fig. 2.

It will be observed that owing to the shape of the hook portion 8 and the ears, and the describedpivotal arrangement of the hook the said hook portion must necessarily be. turned through an arc of one hundred and eighty (180) degrees before it will allow the article to be unhooked therefrom-that is to say, it must be turned from the position indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 (full lines) into the position seen in Fig. 2 (dotted lines) to permit the unhooking of the article. I would also state that when any strain is put upon the hook, the same at once assumes the locked position indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. Thus in practice it will always assume a normal locked position to properly perform its function.

The buckle portion of the device is provided with the usual transversebar 12 which carries an ordinary tongue 13. The buckle loop is provided with a-recess or notch 14 of sufficient depth to permit the point of the tongue being received therein and thus be flush with the upper surfaceofthe loop. Thus there is no liability of the horse net or any part of the harness, or the tail or mane of the animal becoming engaged with or entangled in the buckle tongue.

Although I have described my combined device as being applied more'particularly to harness, it may be used for other purposes than connecting portions of harness together, and I do not wish to be restricted in its application for any particular purpose.

IOO

I would say that the principle of recessing the buckle frame to receive the point of the tongue, could becarried out in any ordinary simple buckle, and further that the snap hook portion of my device may be combined with the improved buckle portion described, or be combined with a buckle portion not having the described recess or notch.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The herein described device comprising a frame having a buckle loop at one end, a pivoted tongue for said loop, the oval shaped parallel ears 3 integral with the sides of the HENRY T. RICHMOND. \Vitnesses:

O. M. HARRIS, B. L. BYERS. 

